Road Show signals new turn for courier giant

The growing potential for trade with India, the current market situation, the existing and emerging challenges and opportunities would be among the highlights of a Road Show scheduled to be held in Auckland this week.

DHL Global Forwarding is organising the Road Show at Villa Maria Estate in Mangere (118 Montgomerie Road) on October 5.

Engineering, Fashion and Appeal, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Food, Manufacturing, Technology and related sectors will also come under focus at the presentation.

DHL Lemuir Logistics Private Ltd Chief Executive Christoph Remund, Marketing and Sales Director Sandeep Pingle, New Zealand Customs Manager and other senior officials of the Company will be present at the event.

The India story is certainly strong, as the demand for world-class logistics and warehousing facilities has grown tremendously in the last few years. India is being viewed as Asia’s most attractive logistics market given its market size and growth prospects.

Impressive growth

Mr Remund said the logistics market in India accounted for a whopping $US 17.15 billion in 2009 and is set to register a sharp rise to reach $US 120.42 billion by 2014, with compounded annual growth rate at 9.9%.

“The changing tax structure, increasing trade and the emergence of an organised retail sector will provide an impetus to the Indian logistics industry and help it to attain global heights in the near future,” he said.

DHL Global Forwarding is one of the leading air and ocean freight forwarding companies in India with more than 1100 qualified employees in 32 locations. It is also the leading Customs House Agent with the largest number of entries filed and import duty collected in the country.

The Company has established a ‘Trade Lane Management’ in India to assist small enterprises to promote their business on key trade lanes between India and other markets such as New Zealand.

Its dedicated teams provide strategic consulting for a range of customers, including international players seeking to expand their presence in the domestic market and indigenous companies aiming to go global.

Mr Remund said the Indian logistics industry was relatively fragmented, with a pronounced need for development of roads, cargo-handling facilities at airports and seaports. He said while measures were in place to address these issues, the pace of progress was slower than the growth of the economy.

Infrastructure development

“Currently, airports are finding it difficult to cope with the increasing volumes of air travel. A significant change and decongestion in this sector would greatly enhance the quality of trade in the logistics industry.

“The new upgraded airports at Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad have not adequately considered the needs of the forwarding industry with no proper facilities available for cargo,” he said.

According to Mr Pingle, the Indian Government was increasing financial outlays for ports and roads, with more tangible economic reforms.

“Further expediting the construction of better ports roads and airports would allow the industry to take advantage of opportunities. But infrastructure development projects have a long gestation period.

“We welcome the changes and infrastructure upgrades that are taking place as this will benefit and facilitate our business services to our clients,” he said.

Fostering long-term partnerships with carriers and other service providers allows us the opportunity to leverage a wide range of assets and infrastructure, which are effectively incorporated in the solutions provided to customers.

Mr Remund said DHL has invested more than $US315 million during the past seven years in India to provide leading-edge infrastructure for customers.

“The company has ensured continued investments in setting up facilities despite the slow progress in terms of infrastructure development.

“We plan and implement global transport solutions for customers, supply the necessary capacity and co-ordinate the flow of goods in over 150 countries,” he said.

What:

DHL Global Forwarding India Road Show

Where:

Villa Maria Estate, 118 Montgomerie Road Mangere, Auckland

When:

Tuesday, October 5 at 1130 am

DHL Facts Sheet

Founded by Adrian Dalsey Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn in 1969

DHL is the acronym of the last names of the founders

Hillblom began the service travelling between San Francisco every working day

Rapid expansion throughout the past three decades

Deutsche Post began acquiring shares in 1998 and achieved majority stake in 2001

The Company owns a fleet of aircraft in major centres for its operations

Deutsche Post Group Turnover: Euros 46 billion ($US 60 billion)

Number of Employees: 500,000 worldwide

DHL Express, one of the Group’s brands, holds a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II